The study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, found that only about one third of cryers experienced elevated moods after shedding tears.
61% experienced no change in mood and 9% actually felt worse.
The researchers followed 97 women, ages 18 to 48, in the Netherlands. The participants were asked to keep to daily crying and mood diary over a three month period.
Each night the participants recorded their daily mood, urge to cry, and whether or not they shed any tears.
For each crying session, the women were asked to write about the reason it occurred, how long it lasted, how intensely they cried, where it occurred, and whether or not other people were present.
After examining 1,004 crying episodes, the scientists found that those who cried the hardest, not the longest, experienced the most mood elevation.
According to Jonathan Rottenberg, an associate professor of Psychology at the University of South Florida, the greatest benefit of crying may actually be its ability to connect you to other people.
"When crying helps it's likely not because of the tears but because it recruits social support and draws attention to important problems," explains Rottenberg.
Regardless of what the science says, what does your personal experience tell you?
Do you feel better after a "good cry"?
